Mancation' What-If
by Aunna
Summary: When the Turnbulls left for their 'Mancation', what if Mr. Turnbull hadn't forgotten his wallet? And what if Robotboy hadn't followed them until later in the day? Or if Mrs. Turnbull had an accident? This is what I think would have happened if 'Mancation' had gone a little differently.


_Tommy's P.o.V_

This was officially the worst day of his whole life!

Tommy wasn't a stupid kid by any means. He was practically the smartest boy in his grade and he was the right hand man of Professor Moshimo. He was smart and everyone knew that. But he was instantly feeling stupid when he landed in his current predicament.

He should have let Robotboy come along, deactivated or not! He always felt safer with Ro around anyways. The little robot was one of his most trusted friends and he always was there for him, no matter the situation. He didn't care if his Dad or Donnie saw him now, at least then he wasn't going to fall to his death!

"Help! Please, somebody help!" he screamed as he held onto the tiny branch for his life.

What his father said in reply deeply hurt him. "Wha… Hey! Don't let Whataloadofbologna hear you! He hates whiners! Shh! He's always watching. Wanna be struck by lightning?"

His Dad cared more about some made up tree spirit then his own safety! Man, he should have just ran off to Gus' or Lola's than go on this stupid camping trip. He knew he wasn't as good his brother and father in the strength department, but he had honestly thought he could handle this 'mancation' trip his father had planned. He should have expected this, he should have known that his father was going to make them do dangerous activities and risk their lives. He sobs increased as he imagined his own death. Oh man, he was in so much trouble!

Just then Donnie took a wrong step, causing a rock to fall onto Tommy's head. A quick 'ouch' escaped his lips before his strength failed him and he lost his grip on the tiny branch. A scream of terror came tearing out of his lungs as he plummeted. He was tumbling through the air, one of his legs making a painful connection with the wall of rock he had just been climbing, sending a resounding crack throughout the forest. For a moment, when Tommy had been forced to look at the sky, he swore he could see Robotboy in the distance, racing to his rescue. He knew that the sight had been a hallucination; Robotboy was waiting for him to return so he could repair the robot's circuits.

But he wouldn't be coming home…

The ground collided painfully with his back, causing him to lose his breath and black spots to appear in his vision. He felt some ribs break and his head pounded with extreme pain, threatening to pull him into unconsciousness. He could hear his father shouting something about how they had displeased the tree spirit and needed to apologize. How could his Dad still be worried about their camping trip when Tommy was quite possibly _dying!_

The darkness finally came back full force and consumed him. He could faintly see two red eyes staring at him as he lost consciousness.

_Robotboy's P.o.V_

This was probably the most terrifying thing Robotboy had ever witnessed.

Sure, he had fought Kamakazi and multiple other villains many times over the course of time he had lived with Tommy. He had also witnessed many terrifying moments when his frail human friend had almost be killed by his foes, but he had always been there to either save him or catch him. He should have followed the moment his best friend had left the house, but he had been too afraid that Tommy would catch him in the act. He didn't want his friend to be angry with him, but he'd much prefer an angry Tommy over this!

Ro had just begun to enter the forest when he heard Tommy's desperate cries for help. He felt fear rush through him at the thought of his friend being hurt. He had sped up and rushed towards the source of the cries: Old Nick's Toenail.

When the tall formation of rock came into view, Robotboy desperately hoped that his optical sensors were deceiving him. There was Tommy, falling towards the ground at a terrifying speed. He heard a very loud crack when Tommy's leg smashed into the rock and he felt his circuits give a little jump at that. He flew towards Tommy as fast as his rockets would let him, but that didn't stop Tommy from hitting the ground, nor did it keep his family from seeing him, but they thought he was a tree spirit coming to punish them for something. He honestly didn't care anymore if anyone saw him; all that mattered was getting Tommy to safety.

Robotboy was amazed that Tommy was still semi-conscious when he reached him, but he was soon out cold and Ro had no idea of how he was supposed to get him to safety without hurting him further. He noticed that Tommy still had the watch on and pushed the button to call Professor Moshimo.

Almost immediately the Professor answered the call. "Why, hello there Robotboy. Is there something wrong?"

Ro carefully turned the watch so that the professor could see his injured friend, not caring that he himself was still in need of repairs. He would survive a few short circuits, but Tommy couldn't survive without medical help, especially with how much blood was coming out of the wound on Tommy's head. "Oh dear," the professor said, "I'll be there shortly." Then he noticed the Turnbulls on top of Old Nick's Toenail. "But we have to be careful Robotboy. You'll have to deactivate."

Robotboy shook his head and tried once again to go back to normal, but he was only met with sparks. Professor Moshimo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait for me in the trees Robotboy," he said, "but do not let Tommy out of your sight. We cannot risk Tommy further injury. I shall arrive shortly with a few of my colleagues. They will be better equipped to take care of Tommy than I am."

Robotboy nodded and quickly jumped into the tree tops. His growing fear for his friend was now being joined by annoyance and anger at his father and brother who were _still_ at the top of the rock, chanting some ridiculous words instead of rushing back down to help their fallen family member. This wasn't like anything Tommy had told him about families. He was always telling him that everyone in a family is supposed to help each other and love each other so much that they'd willing die for each other. That didn't seem to be the case between him and his family. Maybe his mother was different, but he couldn't be sure after he heard from Tommy that his mother hadn't done anything to stop Donnie from beating him up and then witnessing it himself. Maybe Tommy needed a new family…

An ambulance came rushing down the old beaten path, causing the two conscious members of the Turnbull family to frantically wave their arms and try to wave them off, Mr. Turnbull shouting about upsetting the tree spirit.

Professor Moshimo came soon after the ambulance, followed by a fire truck and a police car. Tommy had only explained police officers to Ro once and he wasn't exactly sure why they were here. There wasn't any burglars around, were there?

The firefighters quickly raised their ladder to retrieve Tommy's family while the paramedics were rushing to stop the blood from leaking out of Tommy. Professor Moshimo spotted Robotboy and waved for him to hurry into the back of the car. Ro gave one last look at Tommy before rushing for cover in the car. But that didn't stop him from listening to the conversation.

"Will Tommy be alright?" the professor asked.

"I'm not exactly sure at the moment sir," one of the paramedics said, "he is suffering from a severe concussion, his skull is fractured along with three of his ribs, and his left leg has a very severe break. It might be a very long time before he actually recovers if he survives."

"What are you doing to my son?"

"We're trying to save his life sir!"

"Well, this is a mancation, there's no need for you to do anything. He'll be fine in the morning."

There was a slight scuffle and I could hear Donnie shouting something about leaving his father alone before there was a moment of complete silence. Then there was the snapping of handcuffs. "You are aware that camping in this part of the woods is illegal, as is climbing Old Nick's Toenail, aren't you sir?" the police officer said. Now Robotboy realized why the policemen were here. Tommy's dad had broken the rules!

"My family has been camping here for years!" Mr. Turnbull shouted.

"And I distinctly remember telling your father to stop camping here last year!" another officer said. He was most likely older than the first officer. "I had good reason to make you stop too! Now look at this mess, you're under arrest, your oldest boy is going to lose his father, and your youngest might be dying as we speak! Is this what you call good parenting?"

There were footsteps and the slamming of car doors before a car drove off, most likely the firemen and the police officers with the oldest Turnbull, Robotboy realized. "Will you be willing to follow us to the hospital, Professor Moshimo?" one paramedic asked, "We need someone there at the hospital while we contact the boys' mother."

"Of course Ms. Dante, I'll be right behind you."

Soon enough Ro could hear the ambulance drive off and then saw the professor get in the car. "I'll have you circuits repaired as soon as I know for sure that Tommy will be alright, Robotboy." Professor Moshimo said.

Robotboy wouldn't have had it any other way.

_Three Weeks Later. Tommy's P.o.V_

Using crutches wasn't exactly Tommy's forte, but he much preferred them over being stuck in a hospital bed. Man that room had been so bland he had been sure he would have died of boredom long before he would ever get out of there. Good thing the professor had let Tommy keep Ro over the few weeks he was there.

Currently Tommy was staying at a boy's home with his brother, as their mother had an accident while they had been gone. She had accidently set a paper plate near a burner on the stove and had left to answer a phone call. The plate had caught fire and soon the whole house was up in flames. The fire department had quickly put out the blaze, but their mother hadn't made it. So, as their father was in prison and their mother was dead, the two brothers were orphans, though Donnie was going to his new, permanent family next week. He was going without Tommy.

The arrangement hadn't hurt him as much as he thought it would. He was actually happy that he wasn't going to live with his brother. At least he wouldn't get beaten into a pulp every other day now. But he was scared to be in the orphanage. If Kamakazi got wind of this he'd adopt Tommy and force him to give up Robotboy as any guardian had the right to take things away from their children. The thought always sent chills through his spine. He wouldn't last a day being Kamakazi's kid.

Tommy hugged the now deactivated robot close to his chest. Ro was the only reminder he had of his old life, well, besides the scars he now had because of the surgeries the doctors had to perform to fix all of the broken bones. He didn't see much of Lola and Gus now, the boy's home was a good five mile ride and neither of them had the time with all the homework that was being piled upon, even though Gus didn't do his homework and he just couldn't encourage his father to drive him out there.

It had only been three days since Tommy was released from the hospital and the young couple who ran the home had already found someone who was interested in adopting him. He was supposed to meet him today. He clutched Robotboy closer to his chest. What if this guy adopted him and the professor wouldn't let him keep his best friend? Losing Ro would be like losing his family all over again. He couldn't survive that happening all over again.

The door opened and Tommy reached for his crutches. Mr. McKinnon, the head of the boy's home, was here to introduce him to his potential adopter. "Come on Tommy," Mr. McKinnon said, "I'm fairly sure that you'll like this man."

Tommy sighed and held onto Robotboy the best he could around his crutches. The butterflies in his stomach were threatening to send back up his lunch. As much as he wanted to get out of here, he wasn't ready to be adopted. He just wanted to go back to how things used to be. He didn't care if Donnie beat him up or if his parents didn't notice him in favor of Donnie. He wanted to go home!

"It's nice to see you again Tommy."

Tommy's head shot up and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Professor Moshimo was in the interview room! "Professor Moshimo?" he asked, not believing his eyes, "Professor, what are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" the professor asked, chuckling, "Why, I'm here looking to take home a very special young boy."

Tommy couldn't believe what he was hearing. The professor was looking to adopt. And it looked like he wanted to adopt him! "Tommy," the professor said, "would you like to come home with me?"

"Yes!" he shouted, momentarily forgetting that he was using crutches and losing his balance. He was pleasantly surprised when the professor caught him. He smiled as his new guardian held him close. Maybe being adopted wouldn't be so bad after all.


End file.
